Tim’s Letter
by dawning horizons
Summary: Tim gets sent to Vietnam and Curly has to deal with the consequences. The gang decides to let Curly stay with them for a while.
1. Chapter 1: Beginning

A/N: Hey everyone!! It's Allie here (: This is my 1st FanFic and I am super excited! This chapter may be a bit lousy but I hope to greatly improve my writing in the near future. I would be very appreciative of reviews once you have read this chapter and I'm always willing to take criticism and suggestions to improve my story! On with chapter one!! I always thought it would be interesting to 'humanize' the Shepards in a way (:

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Outsiders! S.E. Hinton is the fabulous owner!**

Chapter 1

Tim hadn't bothered to check who any of their mail was from; he never did. Usually, it was bills or letters to his mother but nothing he was interested in. Today, he had just dropped all the mail onto the table and figured someone else would take care of it. He trod upstairs, ready for another few minutes of sleep. Dallas was supposed to come over soon and they had plans to slash the tires of any Mustang they could get their hands on. His idea of getting extra rest proved ineffective because just three minutes later, a scream sounded from downstairs.

"Tim! Tim! Tim!" a frantic voice called. Tim recognized it immediately: Curly. He figured it must have been important for Curly to call his name as incessantly as he was currently doing.

"Whattaya want, kid?" he called back down. He didn't get a response and after a few minutes, the silence became unnerving.

"Curls?" he tried again. Nothing. Heaving a sigh, Tim tossed his covers off and made his way downstairs. He stopped short at the base of the stairs, shocked.

Curly was on his knees near the kitchen table, clutching a letter tightly and sobbing. Tim hadn't seen Curly cry since he had fallen off a telephone pole when he was younger.

"Curly! What's the matter with ya?" Tim asked, worry evident in his voice. Curly was unable to stop crying long enough to speak and so he shakily held the crumpled up letter out to Tim. Tim took it and straightened it out, freezing when he saw the military emblem in the corner. "No way..." he muttered to himself, tearing the letter open. He had forgotten that being drafted was even a possibility, and all of a sudden, reality came crashing down on him. This was his draft letter, and he had no way to dodge it. He was going to Vietnam in three days. Curly must have been going through the mail and immediately seen the letter. He would have known the only reason the military would have sent Tim a letter right away.

He couldn't find a thing to say to Curly - no words of comfort, nothing. In fact, he was suddenly terrified. Sure, he was great at fighting and all, but not with massive guns and not in the middle of a jungle.

"Tim! You can't go! You can't! You can't!" Curly repeated adamantly through his crying. His voice broke and he threw his arms around Tim's torso. Tim numbly wrapped Curly in a tight hug, pulling him back down to the ground until they were sitting on the floor. Curly was still sobbing with his face buried into Tim's chest and was holding him tightly. Curly felt like his life was being ripped apart at the seams. Tim was the only person he'd ever been close with and the person he spent the majority of his days with. He shared things with Tim that neither his mother nor Angel knew, depended on Tim to help him with most things and give him advice, and Tim was just such a prominent part of his life that he couldn't imagine Tim leaving. Sure, he wasn't an emotional guy and generally hated expressing his emotions, but he'd always loved Tim with the strongest love a brother could have. He was sure Tim felt the same way, despite his tough facade and his many attempts to prove that he didn't love anybody.

"Curly, I'll be okay," Tim said dully with absolutely no conviction. He knew he was lying straight through his teeth. He was going to die out there and he knew it. He figured that he was just not smart enough to make it out alive.

"You know what Tim, shut the hell up! You're gonna come back dead and you know it! You're leavin' me and James is gonna beat me senseless every day. You were the only thing stopping him from beating on me all these years, you know," Curly screamed, referring to their stepdad. "He's wanted to pound my face in for so long, and he even told me so. Said, 'Brat, the second Timothy gets shot down by the cops you're gonna get it for making your Ma so upset all the time. She don't need to feed ya' and that was when you came home and saw him with his fist pulled back and me against the wall. I never told you before but damn Tim, I'm scared as hell!" he confessed, staring up at Tim with those wide and child-like eyes of his. He looked like he was seven again and looked so much more innocent than Tim knew he was.

Tim never would have guessed that James blamed Curly for their Ma's problems, and put his hand behind Curly's neck, pulling him closer. He struggled to find anything to say to his little brother once again and hated himself for being powerless to do anything but hold onto Curly. Of course he didn't want to leave Curly to deal alone with a drunkard man three times his size who would beat on him, but he had no options.

Curly's life was going to be changed forever and Tim might as well have his funeral now because there was no way to live through the war. The phone ringing interrupted Tim's rather depressing thinking and he was reluctant to release Curly, but after eight rings, he figured whoever was calling wouldn't give up. Trudging over to the phone, he yanked it up.

"Who's callin' me?" he growled into the receiver. This was the worst time to get choked up and he didn't know why, now of all times, he felt like he was going to cry. Maybe it was Curly _still_ bawling his eyes out on the floor. Maybe it was the thought that he was leaving Curly to get beat on by their stepfather. Maybe it was the idea that he'd die too early. Maybe it was the sound of Dallas's voice on the other end of the phone - the voice he would never hear again in three days, the voice of his only true friend besides his brother, the voice of the only person he secretly trusted with his life - that would finally force his walls down.

"Ya there? Timmm...?"

"Dally," he whimpered, feeling tears slowly make their way down his face. Tim wasn't used to being this vulnerable. It didn't take long for him to begin fully crying. He just couldn't take it, and Curly's breakdown just added to his stress. He and Dally were around the same age and tended to just _get_ each other.

To say that Dally was surprised to hear Tim obviously crying on the other end of the telephone like was an understatement. He was absolutely dumbfounded. In fact, he'd never heard Tim cry once and they'd been friends nearly their whole lives. The entire gang was over at the Curtis' house that day and they had just finished breakfast. Dally had wanted to call Tim about a change in their plans when he'd discovered that Johnny had been wanting to go to the movies with him for a while, but he could tell it probably wasn't going to go as he'd planned either way.

"Tim, why in the hell are you crying?" he asked. He knew he probably sounded very unsympathetic, but he was still awfully confused. That turned some heads in the room; the gang was suddenly interested in their conversation. In fact, Soda got up and came close to Dally to listen since they could hear what Tim was saying if they were close enough, and the rest of the gang followed suit. Dally focused his eyes on the floor.

"I - I need you, Dal, can I come over to Curtis' house? I gotta get out of this place. I'm gonna bring Curly."

Dally glanced up at Darry, silently asking his permission. Darry quickly nodded. He would never deny someone to drop by his place. He'd spoken with Tim on a few occasions and although he was a bit rough around the edges and probably seemed like a pretty cold hood to the majority of Tulsa, Darry was able to read him pretty easily and could tell that he wasn't as hard as he liked to seem.

"Of course you can. See you soon," Dally told Tim, who hung up without replying. Tim figured he'd already sounded wimpy enough on the phone and didn't want to say anything else. Tim grabbed Curly's arm and silently headed out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

"We're going to see Dally," Tim said to Curly, his voice scratchy. He had vigorously wiped his eyes with his sleeve and could tell that Curly had done the same. Curly just listened to him and seemed to understand that Tim needed to see his one true friend right now and didn't complain; yet another thing he loved about his little brother. It didn't take long to arrive at the doorstep of the Curtis' place and he hesitated a moment outside the front door before heading inside.

 **Well, that's Chapter 1! Hopefully it isn't as awful as I feel it is, but please tell me what you think!! I'd love to take some of your suggestions and incorporate them into the story somehow. :) See you guys in the next chapter!!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm back!! I wanted to thank you all for your support of my story, and especially to my reviewers!**

 **Zarak: I'm very glad you love it! Hopefully I haven't disappointed you with this chapter, haha. Please enjoy, and thank you so much for reviewing!!**

 **lulusgardenlfi: Awe, thank you!! I will admit that it was a little more difficult than I'd thought it would be to write Tim and Curly in a largely different way than the book had portrayed them, but I appreciate you taking the time to review and your review definitely inspired me to get chapter two up faster than I'd intended!! :)**

 **FrankElza: Yay, super super exciting to hear that you're interested in reading more!! Also, as you can tell, I figured out the whole chapter thing lol. I'm also hoping to explore the whole Curly-James thing in later chapters - just a heads-up!!**

 **One Wing in The Fire: Thanks!! The FanFic world is a wonderful place, as I've discovered! It makes me super giddy and excited every time someone says they love my story wooot woot!!!**

 **Now that I've gotten a chance to thank these wonderful people, on with the next chapter!**

Dally's entire gang stared silently at Tim and Curly the second they'd walked through the door and he'd felt rather uncomfortable. It was just the way they all were looking at him and Curly, that pitying and confused look, which made him positive they had heard his phone call to Dallas. Damn. He knew he shouldn't have said anything when he knew he was going to cry. Dallas broke the silence.

"What's wrong with ya, Tim?"

How typical. Dally never did have a way with words. Tim remained silent and was wracking his brain for a good excuse, suddenly wanting nothing more than to turn around, go home, and escape everyone's prying eyes, when Curly had to start babbling on and on.

"Tim's gonna die over in 'Nam. He'll be blown to pieces and leave me to die and we're all gonna die and-"

"Curly, why can't you just shut your mouth for once in your life?" Tim shouted in frustration. He felt his face heat up in embarrassment. Here he was, standing in the middle of a house that wasn't his, not even manly enough to just tell everyone about his leaving for Vietnam. How pathetic. He didn't want anyone's pity, and now everyone was looking at him with such an awfully _sad_ look that he didn't think he could take it any longer. Curly was crying for about the millionth time that day, Dally's gang wouldn't stop staring at him, and Dally's stare was impassive as ever. It was as if Dally didn't even care that he was more than likely going to be dead in a couple of weeks. In that moment, Tim couldn't help but wonder if Dally even considered himself a friend to Tim. Did friends not care when you got shipped away to the other side of the world to fight some other man's war? In addition to this awful situation, now Curly was glaring at him through his tears.

"You know what Tim? Can't you just not be so tough for one second? Our lives are falling apart!"

"I was already not tough earlier, and now I'm being tough because there ain't a thing we can do about it, kid!"

"Oh come on, Tim, I never thought you were such a bastard. You can't even realize what's happening? You can't tell how serious this is? I already told you what's gonna happen to me! Do you not care about me at all?" Curly replied bitterly. Tim had had enough of Curly making him look bad in front of Dally and his entire gang and he yanked the front door open, bolting out and down the street with no clear destination in mind. All he knew was he had to escape everything for a while.

Curly was left standing in the middle of the room without Tim, feeling awful. He didn't mean to upset Tim that much. He started to leave, too, when Pony called him back.

"Curly, wait. Let him go. Sit over here," he said gently, getting up and guiding Curly, who was a bit dazed, to the couch. "Now, you said he's going to die in 'Nam? You mean he got...his draft letter?" Pony said slowly.

Curly bit his lip nervously. He knew he was out of line, telling everyone about Tim going to Vietnam when Tim had clearly had second thoughts about telling them all. It wasn't his place to tell everyone, but they basically all knew anyway, so what could it hurt?

"Yeah," he responded softly. The gang exchanged glances. They knew how hard it would be for Curly, especially because of his closeness to Tim. Dally suddenly looked the most distraught out of them all, though.

"Tim? Goin' to Vietnam?" he said in a voice equally soft to Curly's. To Dallas, he had just lost his best friend. He loved the gang and they were close like brothers, but Tim and Dallas just had the type of friendship that couldn't be replaced by anything. It was a different type of friendship than what he had with the gang.

"He's not goin' to 'Nam. I won't let him!" Dally said in outrage, slamming his fist down on the table.

"Dal, stop! It's oka-"

"Don't tell me it's okay! It isn't! I am so sick and tired of people telling me that, Pony! Curly obviously ain't okay. Tim ain't okay. Hell, I'm not okay. I know y'all aren't as close to Tim as I am but this is ridiculous," Dally fumed, his eyes flashing dangerously. He was in one of his moods again, and it wouldn't be pretty.

"We gotta help him dodge it. Think, think, think!" Dally muttered, aggravated, more to himself than to anyone else.

"Dallas!" Curly said sharply. "We can't do anything at all! He has no dependents, he's fit as a damn fiddle, and he ain't sick at all. He's gonna leave in three days and we ain't gonna see him again before his funeral!"

Curly was desperately trying not to cry _again_ since he'd been the biggest baby in the entire world today, but he couldn't help it. Talking about Tim's imagined funeral made him awfully upset no matter how many times he thought about it. He hid his head in his hands, squeezing his eyes shut, pressing his hands into his eyes. Pony awkwardly hugged him, his green eyes looking Curly over. He definitely looked like a complete wreck, and Pony felt bad for him. He didn't know what he'd do if one of his big brothers got drafted, and made the decision to be as supportive of Curly as possible.

Dally didn't want to stand around any longer, just watching Curly cry because he felt that if he stayed here, he was sure to go insane.

"I'm gonna go see where Tim went," he said roughly and walked out the door. The first place he chose to go to was Buck's, since he found Tim there quite a lot, and his guess was spot on. There was Tim, face-to-face with a much larger hood, standing rigid as the hood spat insult after insult at his face. Dally didn't even have time to ponder how Tim had managed to get into an argument this quickly, but his letter must have shaken him up quite a bit and with the mouth he has, Dally can't say that he doesn't think Tim said something stupid.

"Don'tcha got a little brother, Timmy? Is he just as much of a-"

"Why don't you shut the hell up about my brother before I break every bone in your body?" Tim snarled. Dallas was impressed; Tim would take any insult about himself but wouldn't stand for anyone saying things about Curly. Tim knew that Curly wasn't the brightest when it came down to it, but he was more loyal that anyone Tim had ever known.

"You lookin' for a fight, pal? I gots my whole gang over 'ere."

"Forget your gang, this is between you an' me!"

"Not anymore, Shepard! Get 'im!" the hood demanded and at least five of the big man's gang charged at Tim. Two greasers jumped in, and Dally was rooted to the spot. He saw a flash of silver and knew someone had pulled a blade. He was filled with dread and thought what if this was what Tim had wanted? His stomach churned at the thought. What if Tim had provoked this hood because he knew the odds weren't in his favor and figured if he was killed now he wouldn't have to serve his time? Dallas knew that Tim was definitely not suicidal, but the idea just popped into his head and now it wouldn't leave him.

"Tim!" he screamed, pulling his own blade out and leaping into the mass of people. It was utter chaos; the other people at Buck's were running and shouting and things were flying through the air. Someone's blade caught his shoulder and a wail of pain escaped his throat. Before he could even retaliate, something heavy slammed into him and he was knocked to the ground. His head exploded with agony and he felt wetness drip down his neck. Dally knew immediately that his head must have hit shards of glass from a broken beer bottle, and also realized that it was pretty stupid of him to jump into a fight against guys probably at least three years older than both himself and Tim, but he wasn't about to let an extra man get his hands on Tim. At least he was distracting one of the guys.

What concerned Dally the most was the fact that he was unable to even see Tim anywhere in the large amount of bodies. Granted, he couldn't see much of anything given that someone was laying into him pretty roughly at the moment, but he could see just enough to tell that Tim wasn't anywhere near him.

 **I'm still working on getting POVs right, bear with me! I haven't decided what to do in chapter 3, but the wait shouldn't be too long!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow, this chapter was probably the fastest chapter ever, haha. You guys' support is _definitely_ a huge factor in the speed at which these updates are added to the story!! I'm always really happy when I see that people like this story, wooo! I want to send an extra special thank-you to lulusgardenfli and FrankElza, who have been very avid readers thus far and who never fail to brighten my day with their reviews. I also want to thank everyone who do not even have accounts on the site but still take the time to review!! I appreciate all of you a ton and thank you again! My next chapters may be uploaded a tiny bit slower than this one, but always keep an eye out!! On with Chapter 3!**

Darry was getting tired of receiving phone calls today. This was the fourth already. One had been from social services calling about a visit next week, one had been from his boss rescheduling his work hours for tomorrow, one was Tim calling and looking for Dallas, and _another_ was coming in right now.

"Helloooo ?" he asked dryly.

"This Darry?"

"Yeah. Buck? That you?" he asked, recognizing Buck's accent right away. He had no clue why Buck would be calling him at this time, since Buck _never_ called, and he definitely didn't want any more bad news today. Unfortunately, luck wasn't on his side, as usual.

"Mmhmmm. Look, there was a fight at my place tonight and I knew Dallas was part of your gang, so I called you. We didn't call the ambulance because they'd probably toss everyone in here in jail and that's worse than anything else."

Darry felt like everyone in the entire world was testing him today. What more could go wrong?

"How bad?" he asked Buck, and as an afterthought, added, "Tim there, too?" Darry figured that since Dal had gone looking for Tim, it was more than likely Tim had been at Buck's too.

"Can ya just get down here? I have to phone lots of other people. Seeya in a couple of minutes," Buck responded, hanging up quickly. Darry sighed heavily, not knowing whether or not to get Soda and Pony and bring them along. Maybe he should take someone less sensitive, just in case Dallas and Tim were in bad shape. If Buck had even considered an ambulance, it can't be good.

He'd forgotten for a moment that everyone except the two at Buck's was still in the room, and jumped slightly when someone spoke to him.

"Dar? What's happening now?" Soda asked. Pony had taken Curly and Johnny to his room and only Steve, Soda, and Two-Bit were in the main room with Darry now.

"Fight at Buck's. Apparently both Dally and Tim got involved somehow. Buck didn't tell me any details, but he implied that it was a pretty bad fight. Are any of you coming with me to get the two of them?" Darry said, entirely unsure about who would even want to go.

"I'll go," Two-Bit volunteered immediately, followed by Steve and then Soda.

"All of you?" Darry checked. He was still hesitant to allow Soda to come, given that Soda was naturally sensitive, but decided that if he wanted to come then no one was in the place to stop him. When all three of them said yes once again, Darry nodded and pointed towards the door.

"Right. I'll let Pony, Johnny, and Curly know we'll be back and then let's head out."

He knocked on Pony's door and when Johnny opened it, he chose to have Johnny pass his message along instead of disturbing Pony and Curly. It looked like Pony was showing Curly his artwork, but Darry didn't bother to ask why. Maybe he was trying to distract Curly from the day's events.

"Johnny, let those two know that me, Soda, Two-Bit, and Steve will be right back, alright? Don't let them leave. I'll tell you everything later," he said. Johnny gave him a slight nod and Darry headed to his truck where the other three were waiting. He wasted no time in getting the truck started up and taking off in the direction of Buck's.

It wasn't a long drive there; maybe 10 or 15 minutes at the most. However, it felt more like years and years. Darry pulled up to Buck's alongside another car and hopped out. It was absolute chaos; tons of people were milling and running about, mainly talking about the fight. Darry wasn't able to catch hardly any words in his haste to get inside, and he knew the three guys he brought with him were right behind him.

"Curtis!" Buck called, waving his arms in an attempt to flag Darry down. It didn't take long at all for Darry to notice him - after all, Buck's accent wasn't a common one - and he made his way to where Buck was standing.

"Dragged 'em both upstairs. Didn't have no space down here," Buck told him immediately. He then noticed Soda, Steve, and Two-Bit.

"Looks like y'all got it under control. I'll be off, then," he said shortly, before going to speak with someone else.

"Right. Upstairs we go," Darry said again, making sure that everyone had heard. He didn't know what to expect at all. Although, he'd patched up his gang on more than a few occasions, do he didn't feel entirely incapable of getting Dallas and Tim back to their normal selves soon. As soon as he got up the stairs, he decided that they should split up in order to save time.

"Soda, Steve, check all the rooms in that end of the hallway and Two-Bit and I will check the others."

"On it," Soda replied quickly, taking off down the hallway with Steve in tow. He wasn't having any luck. He and Steve had checked at least seven rooms and they were either empty or had strangers occupying them. Darry and Two-Bit weren't faring much better, either.

Soda glanced in the last room of the hallway before looking up at Steve. "Let's meet Darry and Two-Bit over there. They ain't anywhere in these rooms."

Steve, however, noticed something move slightly in the room Soda had just checked. He ignored Soda and tentatively walked further into the room. There was little to no light in here and it was hard to make anything out, but the second he saw two figures not moving, he was positive he'd found them.

"Soda!" he called. "Soda! Soda! Flip the light on!" he called frantically. Steve heard Soda's footsteps quickly retreating to the front of the room and the second the light came on, he recognized Dallas and Tim. It was a harsh light compared to the absence of light that was present earlier, but at least he could _see_ now. When he got a good look at Tim and Dally, he would much rather have kept the light off, though. Steve heard Soda's sharp intake of breath and sensed Soda kneel next to him. To be honest, the two of them looked like they'd fought a stampede of bulls and lost. Dally's hair was soaked in blood from his head and Steve could tell it was from the shards of glass that were practically embedded in his head.

"Soda? Soda, go get Darry and Two-Bit," Steve choked out. Dallas was leaning against the bed with his head tilted back so it was actually resting on the bed. His knees were pulled up to his chest and Steve couldn't really tell whether he was unconscious or not. He was definitely unresponsive if he was even conscious, which Steve highly doubted. Tim was clearly out, and he was lying on the bed, his blood already soaking the sheets. Buck sure was a fool sometimes. Steve knew the second they got these two outta here Darry would call an ambulance and claim it was a street fight, because street fights weren't investigated unless some Soc was involved. The fuzz didn't care whether other greasers fought each other unless someone was killed, in which they were practically required to do a proper investigation by Tulsa law.

The next thing he knew, Soda had returned with Darry and Two-Bit. Two-Bit cursed under his breath and then dropped down next to Dally. He spent about half a minute inspecting him and then did the same to Tim. Deciding it wasn't looking good, he went and stood near Darry.

"Why don't we get them to your truck and then call the ambulance?" he offered to Darry.

"Yeah. I don't think I can take care of all this on my own," Darry admitted, carefully moving around Soda and Steve to where Tim was lying. "Two-Bit, you and me can carry Tim to the truck and Soda and Steve, you guys got Dal?"

"Y-yeah, we got it," Soda murmured nervously. He wasn't sure how Two-Bit and Darry were keeping so calm. How do you keep calm when two of your friends probably should have been taken to the hospital half an hour ago?

By the time they'd all gotten in the truck, most of the other people had taken off or claimed some of Buck's rooms for the night. They were all covered in blood at this point and looked like absolute disasters. It was a shorter drive back to their place than it had been driving to Buck's, but it felt the same, if not longer. Steve was mainly worried that Dally and Tim would die right there in the truck. With that in the back of his mind, he was glad that they were both still breathing by the time Darry pulled up to their house.

It had gotten pretty dark, and Darry's headlights shone through the dining room window. Pony had organized a card game between him, Curly, and Johnny to help them pass the time, but he leapt out of his seat quickly.

"They're back," he announced. It had been quite a while since they'd left, and Johnny had told him all about Darry and the others leaving without saying why. Needless to say, he desperately wanted to know why they had been gone. He flung the door open and the light from their house flooded out into the yard and driveway, illuminating Darry's truck and Darry, Steve, Soda, and Two-Bit. Soda glanced over his shoulder and said something in a hushed voice to Steve before jogging over to Pony.

"Pone, can you call 911?" he asked hurriedly. Pony stared at him. There was blood all over him.

"What? Why? What's goin' on? You okay?" Pony exclaimed.

Soda gave him a frustrated look and pushed past him to the phone. He felt bad that he wasn't being particularly nice to his little brother at the moment, but Dally's and Tim's lives were on the line. The phone had only rung twice when a shrill cry came from outside; one of them must have woken up. He tried his best to ignore the background commotion. Pony had came and stood next to him while Johnny and Curly had darted out the door to see for themselves what was going on. Finally, someone picked up.

"911. What's your emergency?" a female voice said lazily.

"My two friends got into a street fight and it looks like switchblades got involved, can you please hurry over here?" Soda pleaded. Pony listened with wide eyes. Tim and Dal got into a street fight? With blades? And Soda had to call 911? Darry almost _never_ agreed to call 911 unless he thought it was a case of living or dying. Pony didn't bother to listen to the rest of Soda's conversation and instead made his way outside to join the others.

"Pony!" Steve called the second he stepped out the door. "Can you _please_ get Curly outta here? He's keeps gettin' in the way!" he snapped. Everyone was a bit tense at the moment, and Pony decided to ignore Steve's short temper. Darry and Two-Bit were crowded around Dallas, who was sitting up against the side of the car. The was muttering nonsensical things and Pony didn't think he was even aware of where he was, but if anyone had the power to get things under control, it would be Darry. With Two-Bit helping, Pony was positive that Dally would be alright until the ambulance arrived.

"Sure," Pony agreed. He just didn't have the foresight to realize how hard that would actually be. Curly was latched onto Tim, his head lying on Tim's chest and his fist curled up in Tim's bloody shirt. Pony couldn't see his face, but he could tell by his shaking shoulders that he was crying. To be fair, Pony could understand why Curly was crying so much today. It must be a lot for a kid around his own age to have their brother drafted and then show up like this all on the same day. Curly went still for a good few seconds before jerking his head up to stare at Pony with frightened eyes. Blood was smudged on his face from where he'd been lying on Tim, and tear track made their way all the way down his cheeks.

"He's not breathin' no more," Curly whispered in a deathly quiet voice.

 **Wow, that was tense :) Expect lots more drama in the next two chapters!! Also, sorry if this chapter isn't that great quality-wise; I was writing around midnight yesterday. Don't forget to review!! I'd also gladly take suggestions for future happenings in this story!! Thanks for reading, guys! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Updates may be a little slower this week, sorry about that!! I want to start a new story and I've been thinking about various storylines but it's been tough. Anyway, here's the next chapter! :)**

Darry thought he might actually lose his mind if something else happened today. All that could possibly go wrong was going wrong. Soda still hadn't come back from inside, and Darry was worried about what was going on. Two-Bit put his hand on Darry's shoulder.

"I got Dal. Take care of them," he said and moved his head in the direction of Tim, Curly, Pony, Johnny, and Steve. Johnny was standing a little ways away from the commotion, looking a little ill. Darry would check on him later, but he didn't know if he was capable of handling this situation much longer. He numbly nodded to Two-Bit, climbing to his feet and going to Tim. He tried not to panic when he realized that Curly was right and Tim was indeed not breathing.

"Any of you know CPR?" Darry demanded. He hadn't learned it, and he was quite positively regretting that choice now. Needless to say, he was shocked when Curly stepped forward nervously.

"T-Tim taught m-me a while back."

"He did? Okay, alright, good. Do you remember it?" Darry asked him urgently. Every second they wasted made it less and less likely to get Tim breathing again. He made a mental note to find some way to get his gang CPR training following this incident.

Curly shrugged, running to Tim and staring down at him in a panic. "I-I don't know!" he cried. He realized that if he didn't even try, then there was absolutely no hope for his brother, so he got to work with shaky hands, wishing and wishing with all his heart he'd payed better attention during that lesson. It was a high-pressure situation and Curly could have probably done better had it not been for the unusual circumstances, but it took only about two very tense minutes for Tim to start breathing again. Granted, he could probably only last around five more minutes before he'd stop breathing again and the CPR wouldn't work.

His breathing was barely there, but it was just enough. Curly took a unsteady step back, silently watching the slight rise and fall of Tim's chest. It almost felt unreal. His brother had basically just died in front of him and he had practically saved his life.

"Ambulance should be arriving in a minute!" Soda shouted out the door. "I stayed on the phone with them while they drove and-" he paused, taking in everyone's still-terrified faces. He hurried over. "What happened?"

Sirens sounded in the distance and were gradually getting louder and louder.

"Well," Darry started uncomfortably, "Tim kind of stopped breathing for a while there, but Curly got his breathing going again."

"Oh," Soda replied, dumbstruck. Tim had basically died in their driveway? This was more serious than he thought.

The wailing sirens attracted the attention of their neighbors, and some came out of their houses to see what was going on. Two ambulances and one police car screeched to a halt beside their place and the flashing lights looked rather blinding since it was so dark out. Medical personnel swarmed them along with two cops, and Darry directed them where to go. Soda came closer to watch and noticed Johnny anxiously looking Dally over while the people from the ambulances loaded him onto a stretcher.

"You know he'll pull through, Johnny. He's a fighter," Soda reassured the smaller boy.

"Yeah. I know. He just don't look too good." Johnny's voice was quiet as usual, but he also looked spooked. He'd probably watched the whole thing with Tim go down.

"Hang in there for a little longer," Soda said with a small smile to Johnny. He followed the medics who were taking Dal to the ambulance. "How's it lookin' with him?" he questioned one.

"Not good, kid. He looks like he got sliced by something sharp - I'm assuming a blade - more than a few times, got some glass shards in his hand and his head, broke a few ribs, and that's not even the half of it. One of you can ride with him in the ambulance. Are you his brother?"

Soda didn't even take a second to think before saying, "Yeah. But I think you should let him ride instead," Soda said slowly, motioning to Johnny. He knew Johnny and Dally were close and that Johnny wanted to ride with Dally but was too shy to ask. The medic simply nodded and called to Johnny to get in the ambulance. Soda didn't miss the grateful look that Johnny gave him, and he nodded to Johnny. Curly was screaming about something again and Soda was starting to get a headache, but he could hardly hear over the blaring sirens. Now that he thought about it, he really did consider Dally one of his brothers. Maybe not by blood, but by every other aspect.

"Curly, I just don't think you should ride with him!" Pony shouted, trying to reason with the upset boy.

"Why not? He's my brother, not yours!"

"You've had enough for one day! You're a wreck, okay?!"

Soda decided that their bickering would get them nowhere, and intervened quickly. "Hey, hey! Look, it's okay, you two. Pone, just go inside. Curly can ride with him. I think he should be with Tim right now."

Soda honestly did think Pony was wrong on this one. Sure, Curly needed to just take a break from today's events, but separating him from Tim just would not solve anything right now. Pony gave Soda a tight-lipped smile and headed inside. Soda inwardly sighed. Did he say something wrong? Pony didn't seem like he was in a good mood at the moment. Then again, it was a lot for someone as young as him to handle. The same went for Curly. Soda felt awfully bad for Curly right now.

"Thanks," Curly said to Soda hurriedly, getting into the ambulance. The doors slammed shut and the police cars and ambulances sped off down the street.

Soda watched the bright lights of the emergency response vehicles get dimmer and dimmer until he couldn't see them anymore. Steve put his arm around Soda's shoulders.

"What do you say we head inside? It's kinda cold to be standin' out here."

Now that Steve mentioned it, it _was_ pretty chilly outside.

"Sure thing." Soda wasn't really in the mood to say no at the moment. Besides, the thought of getting some sleep was pretty enticing right now. He allowed his best friend to lead him inside, where everyone else had gathered. He noticed the missing presence of Two-Bit almost immediately, due to the fact that it was just Pony and Darry sitting on the couch. Darry seemed to read his mind.

"I told Two-Bit to go home. Sticking around here wasn't going to help him any."

"Okay. Steve, you staying?" Soda asked, looking at Steve. He was silently hoping that he was. It would just be nice to have an extra person around tonight. It would feel less empty, in a way, and it was always nice having his best friend around. All his hopes were crushed, however, when Steve said, "Sorry. I think I'll just head home too. Call me if you get any news on Dal and Tim?"

Soda was inclined to say no, that he wouldn't do that, but thought better of it. How was Steve supposed to know that Soda would rather he stay here? It wasn't his fault.

"Yeah. I'll do that. See you tomorrow."

"See ya later."

When Steve had actually left, Soda dropped onto the couch in between Pony and Darry. The three of them sat there in silence, all seemingly content with just having the others near them. It was comforting. They must have been sitting there for a full thirty minutes when Darry finally spoke.

"Pony, why don't you get some sleep? You too, Soda. I promise to wake you up if I hear anything."

Soda heard his own promise to Steve in Darry's words. He was actually glad that Darry was telling him and Pony to get some rest, and he didn't need any further invitation than that. "Alrighty. Pony, let's go," Soda said with a yawn. Pony nodded, hopping off the couch and joining Soda on his way to their room.

"Soda?"

"What, Pone?"

"Why's everything getting so messed up?" he asked, exhausted, as he climbed into bed with Soda right next to him. Soda shifted a bit before turning in the bed to face Pony.

"I wish I knew, Pony. You know, none of us told you earlier, but it wasn't no street fight that Dally and Tim got into. It was a gang fight at Buck's. We didn't tell you cause we had to act like it was a street fight so the fuzz wouldn't investigate."

Yet another thing Pony was just finding out about tonight. "Soda!" he said sharply. "You didn't even think you could tell me? What would I do, tell the police? Why didn't you trust me?" he asked, hurt. That information wouldn't have changed anything anyway, but to know that Soda couldn't even spare a few seconds to let him in on what had really happened did hurt him. If there was one thing he hated, it was being left out.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I know I shoulda told you sometime, but it's not that big of a deal. We didn't want to worry you, Johnny, and Curly before we went to check it out."

"It's alright. I know it ain't that important," Pony responded smoothly. He wasn't in the mood to argue with Soda right now. Soda just didn't see things like he did. To Soda, it _wasn't_ that important. But to him, Soda and Darry had been lying to him the entire night long. They could have easily taken him aside before their departure and told him the situation. It was as if they didn't think he could handle the truth, and that irritated him more than anything else. He pushed all the thoughts to the back of his mind, choosing instead to focus on getting some rest. He shut his eyes and was asleep in no time.

Soda, on the other hand, was not falling asleep that quickly. The idea that Pony might still be upset with him worried him, but the main thing on his mind was when they would get a call from the hospital. He tossed and turned for nearly an hour before giving up and slipping out of bed. He tossed a t-shirt on and then his jeans and headed down the hall towards the living room. He wasn't surprised to find Darry awake and drinking some coffee.

"Hey, Dar. Still up?" Soda said, sliding into the chair next to him.

Darry raised an eyebrow at Soda's question. "I could ask you the same."

Soda just laughed dryly. "Oh, you know me. Worryin' about everything. Ya know, what's happening around here? What's gonna happen to Curly? And Tim's gang? And Dally? And the Socs? Tim and Dally are really the only ones standing in the way of Socs jumping us every day! None of us are as scary as those two."

Darry stared at him for a minute. Soda sure did a good job of worrying, that's for sure.

"Slow down, Pepsi-Cola! Just wait until we see how Tim and Dally are, okay? The Socs ain't gonna start going on a jumping craze just because Tim and Dally aren't around."

"How do you know?" Soda asked accusingly.

"I don't," Darry replied immediately, "But I do know that you need to calm down for a second. Here, why don't we see what's on TV?" he suggested, even though it wasn't really a question. He grabbed the remote and flipped through the channels before landing on some documentary about lions. Thirty minutes later, when they still hadn't gotten a call, Darry decided it would be best for them to get some sleep, and as the result of a large amount of begging from Soda, he allowed Soda to sleep on the couch so it would be impossible to not hear the phone. Sleep came quickly to Soda the second Darry turned the lights off.

 **Wooo! Another chapter down! I don't have any plans for the next chapter quite yet, but hopefully the next one will be an interesting one! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I don't even know why I haven't been motivated to write lately, and this lack of motivation is what delayed this chapter so long. However, thank you to those who reviewed (I'll continue with the shout-outs next chapter!) and hopefully this chapter didn't stray from your expectations too much! I can't decide whether I should focus mainly on Tim's POV in Vietnam or Curly's POV back home. What would you guys rather see? Equal amounts of both? I'd love hearing what you want! Again, my apologies for the -extremely- late update!**

Soda awoke to the phone ringing and immediately leapt up from the couch, getting tangled in the covers and falling face-first onto the floor. That didn't stop him and he quickly regained his balance, darting over to the phone and yanking it up to his ear.

"Curly? Johnny?" he asked immediately.

"It's Johnny," a quiet voice said. "Curly's asleep. The doctor refused to give me the news on Dally because I'm not 'family' and he said he didn't have anything definite on Tim."

"He can go to hell! Did you tell him Dally didn't have any family around here?" Soda exclaimed. If Johnny rode in the ambulance with Dally then the doctor should obviously realize they knew each other well. Stupid Soc doctors.

"No," Johnny answered. "Should I have done that?"

"No, no!" Soda reassured him. "Darry can pose as his older brother. Darry looks old enough, and at least their skin colors are more similar than yours is to Dal's."

"Oh. Yeah."

Johnny sounded absolutely exhausted, and Soda got an idea.

"I'll bring everyone over, okay? We can wait up while you two sleep."

"That's really not necessary-"

"Nonsense! See you soon!" Soda said, refusing to take no for an answer. He turned around and saw Pony standing in the hallway.

"Get dressed, Pony. We're going to the hospital."

"Fine," Pony said without any emotion whatsoever. Inside, he was a nervous wreck about seeing Curly and Johnny again, but he was sure they all were. Pony and Soda silently stared at each other for a full minute before Soda turned around without a word and went to go get Darry. He didn't get why Pony was being so irrritating, and now of all times? He loved his little brother, but if Pony was mad at him for something, then he should really tell him outright and settle it soon.

Turns out, Darry isn't such a heavy sleeper as Soda thought he was. Soda nearly crashed Darry as he was leaving his room, already ready to go.

"Heard the phone ring," Darry said shortly. "Pone ready to leave?"

Pony called out from the other room, "I'm ready! Come on!"

Soda remembered his promise to bring the others and figured he'd better stick to it. "You and Pony go ahead. I'll phone Two-Bit and Steve."

Darry looked reluctant to go without him but nodded anyway, leaving with Pony. Soda dialed Two-Bit's number before he dialed Steve's.

"Two-Bit, can you bring your car over to my place? We gotta head to the hospital. Johnny called," Soda explained in a rush the second someone picked up the phone.

Two-Bit agreed and Soda quickly thanked him. Steve's phone rang six times before he answered.

"Who's this?" he asked warily. That wasn't like him. He sounded strangely exhausted, more than even Johnny had. However, Soda didn't have time to dwell on this today.

"Soda. Can you walk over here? Two-Bit's picking us up to take us to the hospital. Johnny called."

"Could you maybe - maybe pick me up? I won't make it there before Two-Bit."

Soda bit his lip anxiously. He didn't _want_ to waste anymore time. Steve did sound pretty beat, though, and Soda wasn't heartless enough to say no. Besides, having Steve wander on over here wouldn't exactly be the fastest way to handle things, either.

"Of course. You feelin' okay?"

"I'm fine. I should be asking you that."

"Why? You sound dead on your feet!"

"So do you."

Soda hadn't taken a second to realize that Steve was pretty spot-on. He felt like he would pass out any second and knew Steve felt the same.

"Steeeve. Oh well, I guess we're both right. Also, since Two-Bit ain't here yet, you know how Darry likes to sugarcoat everything he says?"

"Aw, come on, Soda. You know Superman's just like that."

"I know, but still. He's never honest about how he feels about anything. Like tonight, I asked him what he thought would happen and he wouldn't answer any of my questions!"

Steve sighed. Sometimes he felt like both Soda and his little brother were incapable of seeing things through someone else's eyes, especially when it came to Darry.

"Soda...what place would you be in if Darry admitted that he thought everything was gonna get screwed up? He's gotta be the rock-solid one for you and Pony. Can't you see that?"

Soda didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"I can. In a way. But it still bothers me sometimes that he never has anyone to talk to."

Steve laughed dryly. Soda really was one of a kind.

"You wouldn't believe some of the things he tells me, Soda. I'm betting he talks to Two-Bit and maybe even Dally in the same way. He _does_ have people to talk to. Don't tell him I'm tellin' you this, though. I don't call him Muscles for nothing."

Two-Bit's horn honked outside and Soda sighed before saying to Steve, "We'll finish this conversation later. Be there soon." He hung up and went outside to meet Two-Bit. Soda wasted no time in hopping into the car.

"To Steve's place and then to the hospital."

Two-Bit nodded quickly and made it to Steve's house in record time. He honked his horn and Steve came hurrying out. He jumped into the car and Two-Bit took off towards the hospital.

"You might wanna slow down some, buddy," Soda advised Two-Bit. Although, when Two-Bit entirely ignored his advice, he didn't press it any further. He wanted to get there just as much as the two other boys in the car did.

Two-Bit skidded to a halt in the parking lot, not bothering to actually find a real parking space. Soda and Steve were out of the car before he even shut the motor off and he quickly followed them in. The second they burst into the waiting room, they spotted Darry, Pony, and Johnny sitting in the furthest corner of the room. Curly was stretched out over three chairs with his head propped up on the side of one chair. They were the only ones in the place at this time of night except for a group of three tough-looking hoods in the opposite corner.

Soda went to stand right near Darry. "Anything happen since we've been gone?"

"Sorry, little buddy. We haven't heard anything on either of them yet since we got here."

Soda sighed in disappointment and Steve slung his arm around Soda's shoulders.

"Hey man, they'll probably give us an update soon," Steve said somewhat reassuringly. All the talking seemed to wake Curly up and he moved into a more comfortable sitting position. He caught a glance of the hoods and spent a good minute watching them silently before Pony pointed out to the rest of the gang that he was awake. Curly didn't know what everyone was talking about so busily that they didn't notice him wake up, but at the moment, he was too distracted to care. He grabbed Pony's arm and whispered to him, "I know those guys. They're part of Tim's gang."

"What? How did they find out?" Pony asked, surprised that the news had traveled that quickly. He thought nobody knew about what was going on other than his own gang and Curly.

"How could they have?" Curly asked, deep in thought. "None of us told 'em about it."

Curly didn't have to wonder for long, because the one he knew was Trev seemed to recognize him. Trev looked baffled for the slightest second about Curly not being with his own gang, and headed in Curly's direction. Curly wasn't really up for talking to him right now but he couldn't hide now that he'd been spotted. Pony shot him a questioning look as he moved towards Trev and he just offered a small shrug, turning to look back at Trev.

"Well if it ain't Curly Shepard! What are you doin' around here, Shep?"

Curly shifted uncomfortably and carefully cleared his face of any emotion, putting on his mask of coolness, refusing to look anything but tough in front of Tim's gang, technically his gangtoo.

"What are _you_ doing here?" he asked back, not wanting to tell them anything.

"Jared needed a lotta stitches in his side cause he got into a knife fight with some of the River Kings. He'll be alright by tomorrow. We decided to come with him to drive him back when he's done."

"Okay, cool," Curly said simply. He couldn't care less about Jared. Jared was always acting like Curly was seven years old and it bugged him a lot. Trev, however, wasn't as much of an idiot as Curly thought he was because he called Curly back.

"Hey there Curly, you ain't told me what you're here for yet!"

Curly audibly sighed. He hoped to give Trev the impression that this talk really wasn't worth his time. To him, it honestly wasn't.

"Stay out of my business. If I wanted to tell you, I would!" Curly snapped back irritably. He knew that for sure if Tim's gang heard that Tim wasn't going to be around for much longer that they'd go wild. Tim needed to give his position to someone else, and Curly, for once, didn't want it. He'd spent his whole life wishing he could be as cool as Tim and look as tough as Tim did, but he realized that he didn't want Tim's job. He didn't want to control a gang of hoods. He didn't want to make any of the illegal deals Tim made. He just didn't want to do it. He'd already had a taste of it once before and it was not something he'd consider enjoyable.

Trev just smiled at him, but not the warm and friendly I'm-your-friend smile; it was more of the I'm-going-to-fucking-murder-you smile.

"Kid, being Tim's brother doesn't give you any special privileges. You mouth off to me one more time and I'll kick your ass."

"And risk Tim kicking you outta his gang? I'll be in charge one day, you fucker!" Curly growled, in no mood to let Trev walk all over him. If he didn't assert his authority now, when Tim actually went to Vietnam, he wouldn't have a prayer. He knew Tim wouldn't trust anyone else in the gang to lead while he was away. No matter how much he dreaded being in control, he couldn't let Tim down.

Before Trev had the chance to lunge at Curly, Dr. Calhoun, the doctor who had been speaking to Johnny earlier, cleared his throat and glared at the group of boys.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, but if you continue raising your voices in this facility then you will be asked to leave. Now, family of Timothy Shepard or Dallas Winston?"

Curly felt Trev look at him sharply. This fucking Soc doctor just blew his cover.

"Tim's my brother," Curly managed to say.

"Dallas is mine, and, uh, these are some cousins of his," Darry replied, since he was the quickest thinker.

"Hm. You've got a lot of family around here, then?"

Darry decided he did not like this doctor one bit. His tone made it sound like all of them were fools.

"Yes, we do. Can you tell us everything now?" Darry asked impatiently.

"Sure thing. With Tim-"

"Can we not do this right here?" Curly interrupted loudly. Why bother asking who family if he was going to announce everything anyway? Curly certainly didn't want Trev or his pals hearing. They'd spread the word and by tomorrow there'd be a widespread rebellion in Tim's gang. That's what Curly dislike about the gang so much; they betrayed you the second they got a chance. Dally's gang was obviously nothing like that, and he admired them all for it.

"Tim's gonna be out of commission for a while?" Trev blurted out. Of course he would want to know. Traitor. Curly couldn't have despised him more than he did right then. In fact, Curly still had his year-old suspicions that Trev had started the whole incident when Tim was in the cooler a while back. Scott had tried to overthrow Curly, who Tim always put in charge while he was gone, and had ganged up on him with a few other guys. Trev wasn't there, but Curly just knew he'd come up with the plan. He never did the dirty work himself, but loved reaping the benefits. It was just how he worked.

The whole scheme never worked out because some Tiber Street Tigers seemed to notice what was going on (Curly didn't know he had luck that good) and came to his rescue. Obviously it wasn't because they found it wrong that six gang members were teaming up against the brother of their own gang's leader, but because they knew Curly was less of a threat than Scott and his guys. Curly didn't even mind, because it saved him from getting pretty beat up.

So obviously Curly was instantly worried. He sent a cold look in Trev's direction.

"He ain't gonna be away for long," Curly lied, "And if he ever _was_ away for long, then you'd have to listen to me!"

The arguing was getting on Dr. Calhoun's nerves, and he raised his voice.

"Only you two, come with me!" he loudly demanded, pointing to Curly and Darry. Curly was relieved and worried at the same time. Trev and the others wouldn't hear any of the news, but he was suddenly uncomfortable at the thought of letting them all out of his sight. He could practically feel them planning something like what they did last time.

As soon as the two reached Dr. Calhoun's office, he launched into the details.

"I'll start by saying both of them had to get surgery and stitches. They're both a little out of it since we have them on so much medication, but it should wear off eventually. I asked the nurses to monitor the both of them carefully throughout the next week."

"Week?" Curly asked, his hopes soaring up. "If someone misses their military draft cause of hospital reasons they don't gotta go?" he asked giddily.

"Oh no," Dr. Calhoun said with a frown. Curly was instantly crushed and he bit his lip anxiously to keep from complaining. "They have to leave as soon as the hospital deems them fit enough. Too many guys have tried that, and the military has taken measures to reduce the percentage of boys who try it."

"That ain't fair!" Curly shouted.

The doctor gave him a disapproving look for yelling and Curly looked back at him stonily but lapsed into silence. On the bright side, he'd have more time with Tim. It wasn't much though, and this extra time wasn't his perfect idea of how he'd spend his last minutes with Tim, but he figured he'd just make it work. He didn't have any other choice.

"Moving on. I'll give you two some medicine for them when they're released from here because they probably will get headaches from time to time, not to mention it'll take more than a week to fully heal with regards to their other injuries."

Darry nodded to the doctor. "Alright. Could we see them before we leave?"

Dr. Calhoun seemed to contemplate this for a while before finally agreeing.

"I guess it couldn't hurt, but if you upset either of them and you'll be asked to leave. Like I said before, they're pretty out of it. Dallas is in Room 501 and Timothy is in Room 502. They're in the ICU. I could get a nurse to show you where that unit is."

"I know where it is, thank you!" Darry said, seeing that Curly wasn't about to say anything. He got up to go tell the others with Curly trailing behind him.

The second Pony saw Darry and Curly reemerge, he leaped up and sprinted over to them. "What's the news? What's the news?" he asked hurriedly. The others walked a little slower, but he could tell by their faces that they were all eager to hear what the doctor had said as well.

"The doctor said we can visit them. Rooms 501 and 502 in the ICU."

"What are we standing around here for, then?" Soda exclaimed. "Let's go visit them!"

He booked it down the hallway, ignoring the yelling of the nurses and doctors. Pony laughed a little and took off after Soda, leaving the others to do the same. Curly briefly noted that Trev and his pals were nowhere to be seen. He couldn't really care less at this point because he was finally getting to see Tim.

It didn't take long to find the rooms. Darry put his hand on Soda's shoulder and looked at everyone.

"I say we split into two groups and just rotate going to see the two of them so it's not a ton of people in their rooms," Darry suggested. "Soda, Steve, Two-Bit, you three can be one group and Pony, Johnny, Curly, and I can be the other."

Curly spoke up from where he'd been silently standing against the wall. "Can we visit Dallas first? I don't wanna see Tim yet."

The excitement Curly had felt just seconds before had dissipated. He suddenly didn't want to visit his brother in a hospital bed. Tim wasn't supposed to be in the hospital fighting for his life; he was supposed to be playing pool at Buck's and spending time with Curly and his friends.

Darry was rather surprised at Curly's statement but simply nodded to him. He never was good at getting into other people's minds.

He led the three younger boys into Dally's room and shut the door quietly behind him. It didn't take long for him to pull chairs up to Dally's bedside. Dally was awake but hadn't even acknowledged anyone. Then again, the doctor had warned Darry that they were both out of it.

"Hey Dal," Pony murmured. "How're you doing? I know you hate hospitals and all."

Dally shifted a little and focused on Pony, his vision a little blurry. He'd heard Pony and couldn't agree more. He felt oddly numb and they must have given him something for his head, because it didn't feel like his brain and trying to leap out of his skull anymore.

"Hate ho'pitals," he slurred, feeling overly drowsy. Then, as an afterthought, he added, "Tim okay? The guys g'nged up on him."

Pony rested his arms on the bed and shot a look at Darry, silently asking if he was going to tell Dally. Darry saw his glance and decided he knew the most so he minus well just tell Dal all the news.

"The doctor told me that Tim would be doing better in about a week. Don't worry about him. He'll be okay."

Dally's eyes traveled over each of the boys in the room. All the machines that were surrounding him kept humming and he was positive that if it weren't for the machines, it would be dead silent.

"I know," he responded, not saying anything else and shutting his eyes. He just wanted to sleep and all the medicines were making him even more tired.

Darry took this as their cue to leave and the others took the hint. They slipped out into the hallway and were more than surprised to see that Steve, Soda, and Two-Bit were already waiting. Darry sent Soda a questioning look and he shrugged.

"That doctor was a fucking liar, because Tim was nowhere near awake. He was out cold and he definitely didn't look like he'd be fine in a week," Soda said in frustration. Soda generally didn't curse, but today had been such a hellish day that nobody thought anything of it.

"Dallas was awake for a tiny bit but he got tried pretty fast. He didn't look great either. It's been a while since I've seen Dally looking like that in this hospital," Darry added. "Maybe we should come back another day?"

None of them wanted to leave now. After all, they'd probably just had the shortest hospital visits in the entire world.

"But I haven't gotten to see Tim yet!" Curly protested. No one said anything because they didn't know what to tell him. Although, they weren't about to let him visit Tim and he seemed to sense that. Curly stormed off down the hallway in a huff, and Pony almost went after him but then decided against it. Maybe Curly just had to be alone and think for a while.

Curly ran away from the hospital, eager to get as far away as possible. Everything was okay in the morning and now everything had just gone completely wrong. He was on an emotional rollercoaster and his mood kept changing just about every minute. He made up his mind to seek out Scott and maybe even Trev right away and lay down the rules before everything escalated. Scott was usually always either in his house or at Buck's, and Curly knew this was probably a stupid thing to do, but going to Buck's would be such an idiotic move that he wasn't willing to risk it. He wasn't looking for another brawl tonight. Although, he did think that the possibility of getting into one with Trev and Scott was very real.

He found himself hesitating outside of Scott's house and then quickly made his way forward, not bothering to knock. He wasn't surprised at all to find Scott surrounded by Trev, Jared, and three others. They were just so naturally predictable.

"Curly," Scott said, a hint of surprise in his voice. Why was he surprised? Did he seriously think he would get away with this? Curly didn't understand these people.

Curly glared at him. "Y'all must think I'm a fucking dumbass or somethin' because I know exactly what you're planning. I just wanted to stop by and tell you that you better not try any of the shit you tried last time."

"Come on Curly! I've changed!" Scott whined in a high-pitched voice. Curly could tell Scott was playing with him and didn't like it one bit. There they went again, acting like he was stupid. No one ever really took him seriously and it disturbed him. Before Scott had a chance to move, Curly had already pulled his switchblade out and pressed it against Scott's neck. It wasn't hard enough to leave any type of scar, but it had to sting.

"The rest of you make one move towards me and I'll fucking kill him. Now all of you are going to tell me what you're doing here and I might let Scott go!"

Scott didn't know if Curly would actually follow through with his threat, but the cold metal against his neck convinced him that Curly probably would.

"Calm down, what the hell is wrong with you?" Trev asked Curly. "Scott came to me and wanted my help in taking over and-"

"That ain't what happened at all!" Scott exclaimed in rage. "Trev actually came to _me_ , asking if I wanted to rule jointly with him!"

"Shut up or I'll let Curly slit your throat!"

Curly had heard enough. Obviously Trev hadn't thought his answer through, because him and Jared had just been at the hospital a while ago. It was clear he'd sought Scott out, and was planning to do the same thing he'd done last time. Now Curly had absolutely no idea what to do. He tuned out Scott's and Trev's bickering and tried to decide whether he should let the same people who were essentially planning to murder him go or take matters into his own hands.

"I'll make a deal with you two," Curly said loudly.

"What deal?" Trev immediately asked.

"Trev! You and me. We'll fight tomorrow afternoon at four in the lot. You can't bring any blades or things like that. Whoever wins can take over." This way, Curly would have time to come up with a plan.

Trev smirked at him. "I didn't know you were the type to just give your position away, Curly. Everyone knows your fighting ain't worth shit."

"Fuck you! I'll be there tomorrow and I expect you to do the same!" Curly growled, releasing Scott and making a hasty exit through the door.

One very important thing that Curly forgot was that Tim's gang members were never known for keeping their words.

 **Wow. Is this the longest chapter ever or what? Just kidding, lol. I'll work on the next chapter and try to get it up quickly, but since I'm working on a Riverdale Fic at the same time, it might be a week or so. Hopefully less!! Peace out**


	6. Chapter 6

**Wait, what...? An update...? Well, it's been a while, my friends! I know it's been a really long time since I last wrote on this story but I decided to put up one more chapter and see how it goes! My inspiration is admittedly minimal at this point so I don't know if I'm going to actually write a next chapter, but if I do, there will be some Tim POV (thank you FrankElza for the idea!!). For now, enjoy this update!!**

Halfway through his walk back to the Curtis's house, Curly began to regret what he'd just done. What had he been thinking? There was no way he'd win any fight against Trev, even if Trev did fight fair. Although, Curly didn't believe that Trev would uphold his promise anyway. Now, Curly was stuck in a position he'd never thought he'd be in - and one he'd never wanted to be in. Fuck.

It was a shame he couldn't ask Tim what he should do.

But then, maybe he could. Curly abruptly turned around and started walking in the direction of the hospital. Maybe Tim would be awake. Maybe he could talk to him. Maybe.

He knew it wasn't the brightest idea he'd ever had, but he was fresh out of options. He didn't want to ask anyone in Dally's gang because they'd done enough for him and his brother today, and bringing them more problems would be pretty unfair, in his opinion. He didn't like relying on other people that much anyway.

Slowly, he made his way towards the hospital. He didn't think he'd ever walked this much in one day in his entire life. By the time he returned to the hospital, he'd considered turning back at least three times. He was glad he didn't, however.

"Hey Doc!" he called to the first man in a white coat he saw. The man, an older gentleman with a beard and wispy gray hair, stopped walking.

"You need something, son?" he asked slowly.

"Yeah, can I see my brother? Shepard? He was brought in a while ago."

"I'll ask the front desk for you."

"Okay," Curly agreed. He waited somewhat impatiently while the doctor conferred with the secretary. He hoped they didn't play that 'where's your guardian' bullshit on him since he'd walked all this way. Then, he spotted the doctor wave him over.

"You're allowed to see him. Got the room number?"

"I remember it. I was here earlier. Thanks," Curly quickly answered, hastily making his way down the halls to Tim's room. He didn't need any more invitation than what he'd been given. It wasn't long before he reached the room he knew Tim was in, and he hesitated outside the door. Was this really a good idea, or was he being an idiot? There was no chance that Tim would be awake and lucid. But then again, all the walking he'd just done didn't warrant a turn-around.

Curly grabbed the door handle and walked in before he had any more opportunities to talk him out of it. He slammed the door not at all quietly behind him and leaned up against it, studying Tim's form in the bed.

He certainly didn't look like the strong, tough, loyal, practically superhuman big brother than Curly was accustomed to knowing. Curly pulled a chair from the other side of the room to Tim's bedside and rested his elbows on the bed, letting his face drop into his hands. He stayed like that for a while, not speaking and just being in Tim's company where nobody could get at him - not his dad, not Trev, not Scott, not a single soul. It was funny, even when Tim wasn't even awake, he still managed to protect Curly from the rest of the world. He sighed softly before shifting positions and putting his head down on the bed. It wasn't long before sleep called him away from reality.

 _"Curly, whatever your stupid ass was doing on top of that pole, this hospital bill's comin' outta my paycheck. You know no one's helping me pay the bills, shithead!"_

 _Tim had been ranting for the past ten minutes while he drove Curly to the hospital and Curly had tuned it out for the most part. He would have defended himself had it been any other circumstances, but at the moment, he knew they were low on money and Tim very well could have refused to take Curly to the hospital. He'd refused numerous other members in their gang who had come asking for hospital money when they did stupid things or got in pointless fights, and so Curly was just thankful Tim was helping him out. That being said, Tim could yell at Curly all he wanted; Curly knew he deserved it._

 _"-the fuck were you thinking? That it would be fun? Curly, I oughta slap you upside the head!"_

 _Curly wouldn't have been surprised if he carried through with that threat, but he was thankful he didn't. Tim hadn't ever hit him and he was sure he didn't want him to, judging based off what some of Tim's opponents had looked like by the time he was done with them._

 _He was jerked out of his thoughts by a loud car door slam and realized they'd arrived. He scrambled out of the car, sucking in his breath when his arm gave another flare of pain. Tim, noticing Curly's pained expression, motioned towards the hospital. "Let's go, Curls. We ain't got all day."_

 _Curly ambled behind him slowly, worried that any quicker movements would bother his arm. Suddenly, he heard his name being called, although it wasn't Tim's voice. Tim was staring straight ahead and wasn't saying a word. He was just walking towards the entrance._

 _"Curly. Curly. Curly! Hey! Curly!"_

Curly woke with a start. Blinking the hazy sleepiness away, Pony's figure came into focus.

"What the hell? When did you get here?" Curly blurted out. He hadn't told anyone he was even coming back here.

Pony shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck somewhat awkwardly.

"I just figured you'd come back here eventually. It just seemed like something you would do."

"Well. I guess you were right," Curly said simply, saying nothing else. A somewhat tense silence ensued, and it wasn't broken until Curly spoke again.

"So Curtis, you just gonna stand here all day?"

Pony awkwardly shifted from foot to foot. "Um, no. I just wanted to make sure you weren't doing something stupid."

Now, Curly did feel a little bad about always snapping at Pony when his intentions were good, but he just wanted to be left alone and everyone kept bothering him.

"I kind of did," Curly admitted, staring at his hands.

"What?" Pony asked, pausing. His eyes widened. "Curly, what did you do?" he asked, dreading the answer. Curly was known to do some idiotic shit when he was upset. Pony was really hoping it wasn't anything too awful.

Curly was pretty hesitant about telling Pony what he'd decided to do, and he was positive that Pony would tell everyone and he thought he could just handle it on his own. He didn't need to be watched over every second of the day like a little kid. It was then that he abruptly stood up and walked out of the room without a word. He wasn't surprised when Ponyboy followed him, pressing for answers.

"Hey, why don't you fuck off?" Curly snapped after Pony had asked him what was wrong about ten times. He was getting more and more panicky about what to do and Pony's interrogation wasn't allowing him to take his mind off his deal with Trev at all. Pony looked more insulted than Curly had ever remembered.

"I'm trying to help you! If you don't want any of my help then fine, but don't come crying to me when everything gets messed up for you!" Pony said indignantly. It was unlike him to be so harsh, but Curly figured he deserved it with how he'd been acting towards Pony. Pony's shape disappeared through the hospital doors, and Curly's plans of sleeping over at the Curtis's were instantly dashed. It was around 3:30 in the morning, and at this point, Curly hadn't had an ounce of sleep for a little less than an entire day. Buck's was his only option because there was no way he was going back to his own house.

An hour later, Curly still hadn't gotten a minute of sleep. The blaring Hank Williams and drunk yelling was making him miserable. What type of person throws parties at four thirty in the morning? Every minute that passed was another minute closer to battling it out with Trev. He started feeling sick at the thought of it again. His stomach was turning and he felt ridiculously dizzy and sluggish and he was sure that he had a fever. Although he wasn't totally sure when the fever developed, it was definitely there now. He could feel heat radiating off his forehead when he put a hand up to feel it.

Curly decided that he could push his reputation aside for one night. It wasn't like he has much of a reputation anyway - that was all Tim. Trudging down the hall, he grabbed the only phone in the whole place and dialed what he knew was Darry's number. Leaning against the wall for support, he shut his eyes and pressed his forehead against the cool wall.

The phone had rang quite a bit and Curly was ready to give up when someone answered.

"Hello?" a very pissed-off voice replied with a bit more agitation than Curly would have liked.

"Look Darry, I'm not in the mood for this-"

"Curly? That you? What are you calling me for?" Darry asked, sounding a lot more awake now.

"It's me. I really need somewhere to sleep because I'm at Buck's and I'm sick and I don't feel good and I couldn't go to my Dad's and I'm sorry about calling at this time and I know you're tired and-"

"Curly! It's alright! I'll come get you right away."

"Thanks, Dar...I owe you one."

"Don't mention it. I'll be there in ten."

Curly couldn't have been more relieved. He sank down against the wall, letting his head drop into his hands. He stayed like that until he heard something that made his breath stop for a moment.

"Damn Shepard, you just can't stay away from me!"

Trev's voice was the absolute last thing Curly wanted to hear today. It was almost _tomorrow_ , and he'd been awake for so long that he wanted to just get out of here as soon as possible. More shit had gone down today than in Curly's entire life. The world was clearly against him.

 **So shortest and worst chapter ever?? If I decide to write another chapter then it will probably end up being kind of a cool-down chapter before more drama since I know I've been packing drama into these past chapters! Once again, don't forget to review and tell me what you'd like to see!**


	7. Chapter 7

**I'm baaaack! Special thanks to One Wing in the Fire and FrankElza, who was my main motivation for continuing to write! I know it's been foreverrrrr since the last update, but that's because I'm working on two other stories!**

 **Me: *wants to write just one non-dramatic chapter***

 **Also me: *literally cannot***

 ** _If you want to write a chill chapter for me hmu because I need one lol!! Lol jk I'll try with the next one thoughhhh haha x) This chapter isn't too well-written but I'm also working on that for future chapters!!_**

 **ALSO! I know I haven't been putting Angela in this story at all, so can we just pretend she's at her grandparents' house or something:) When all this calms down then I might go into that but this story is way too busy as it is at the moment so haha :)**

 **Get ready for chapter seven because it. IS. HERE!!!**

Curly's eyes traveled over Trev until he and the other boy were locked in a seemingly endless staring match. Trev's eyes were filled with hatred and Curly was sure his looked the same way.

"Trev," Curly acknowledged at last, hating how weak his voice sounded. His health was going downhill rather rapidly and he was starting to get pretty concerned. Was it normal to feel this sick in such a short period of time? Maybe the craziness of the day was just catching up to him.

"Shepard," Trev returned in a mocking voice.

 _Damn, Darry needs to hurry the hell up._

"What do you want? We ain't fighting yet!" Curly said reproachfully. He wished Trev would leave already. Somehow, no matter where Curly went, trouble just seemed to follow him around everywhere.

Trev smirked at him. Curly had never been more inclined to murder someone in his entire life.

"I was gonna use the phone, but I guess you got to it before me. Who're ya calling? Your big brother to come pick you up and take you homeeee?" Trev said patronizingly. "Oh! Wait! I forgot, he's in the hospital! Well, that's so fucking disappointing, isn't it?"

Curly would have taken a swing at Trev right then and there if he had thought he could stand up without getting ridiculously dizzy, but at the moment, he felt worse than he'd ever felt, so he settled on a death glare and another snide remark.

"What's disappointing is your shitty insults. Now, go somewhere else and bitch at someone other than me for once, yeah?"

Trev clearly had nothing better to do that irritate Curly all night long since he refused to leave; the hood pretended to consider Curly's suggestion for a moment and then shrugged with another smirk.

"Nah. I think I'll just stay here with you! Let's bond!" he said in the worst fake-cheerful voice Curly had ever heard. He was acting so idiotic that Curly was getting more and more tempted to strike out at him any minute now. Thankfully, he was saved by whatever would have happened next by Darry appearing at the end of the hallway. Even Trev seemed to recognize the oldest Curtis brother instantly. It was hard to forget Darry; his authoritative air and ridiculously strong body physique weren't that common among people in this town. Curly waved him over.

"Darry! Hey!" Curly called.

Darry walked over to the two of them and Trev quickly made his escape, slipping past Darry and heading downstairs. Curly almost wanted to laugh at the how pathetic Trev was for being entirely willing to torment him all night and suddenly having something else to do the moment Darry showed up.

"Curly? You're not looking too good." Darry said with a frown.

"I'm not feelin' too good either," Curly added miserably with a yawn. He slowly stood up, still relying on the wall to support him. Darry seemed to notice it and helped keep him steady the entire way to the truck, which Curly was thankful he didn't mention when they were driving back to his place.

Unfortunately, he couldn't avoid the other questions Darry had.

"So," Darry started, "You wanna explain what you were doing at Buck's?"

"Um. I just wanted to get some rest," Curly answered, not offering up any other information. It wasn't really a lie - he had been trying to get some sleep. Darry raised an eyebrow at that.

"At Buck's?! The only place in town with parties all day and night?" Darry asked incredulously.

"It was either that or the street."

"The street?" Darry repeated, surprised. "What about your house? Why didn't you go there?"

Curly was suddenly very interested in the passing scenes outside the window. Why didn't he go there? Maybe because his dad would have beat the shit out of him?

Instead of everything more complicated, Curly settled on a simple, "I dunno."

He could tell Darry didn't buy it, but he didn't keep asking questions, and so Curly was okay with it. Besides, he felt like a human furnace and didn't want any more confrontations tonight. The sight of the Curtis's house had never been more welcoming. He was about to clamber out of the truck when Darry turned around in his seat to face Curly.

"Wait, Curly. You know you're always welcome to come stay here whenever you need a place to go?" he asked sincerely.

"I know," Curly lied. In all honesty, he didn't feel that it was his place to be another person who Darry needed to feed - he had his hands full with his brothers and his other gang members. Darry nodded.

"Okay. Can you get out without my help?"

"Course I can."

Curly did manage to make inside, where he instantly tossed himself onto the couch and shut his eyes. He was out less than a minute later. Darry quietly shut the door and noticed Curly already fast asleep on the couch. _Poor kid. He must be exhausted._

Darry quickly fetched a spare blanket and lay it across Curly's form. Just as he was getting ready to head back to bed, Soda appeared in the doorway of his and Pony's room. "Dar? What are ya doing up?" he asked sleepily.

Darry debated whether or not to tell Soda the truth or not. He figured that his younger brother would find out in the morning anyway; it was probably better to just tell him now.

"Soda. I had to go pick Curly up from Buck's because he wouldn't sleep at his own house. I think there's something he's not telling us."

"Like what?" Soda immediately asked. "Something bad?"

Darry immediately hushed him. "Soda, not so loud! One, I don't want Curly to hear, and two, he's sleeping and I think he has a fever."

Soda whispered, "Sorry," and motioned for Darry to follow him into Darry's own room. He sat on Darry's bed and as soon as the door was shut, Darry joined him.

"Alright. So, as I was saying, I think something's up with him. It just doesn't make sense why he would choose Buck's over his own house to catch some sleep. He can't say he didn't know Buck's has a party going on almost every day."

Soda slowly nodded, taking everything in. It didn't make much sense to him either, and he could immediately tell what Darry was trying to tell him. He was pretty great at reading people.

"You think something sketchy is going on at his house and you want to know what."

Soda stated it matter-of-factly. It was obvious to him that was exactly what Darry had been trying to tell him without outright saying it. He was just like that at reading people.

Darry gave a slight nod.

"Yeah, you think-"

"Don't worry, I'll get Steve to help me get to the bottom of it faster than you'll believe, Dar!" Soda assured him. "Now, you get some rest," he said with a pointed look at Darry.

Darry smiled at him. "Alright, alright. You too, little buddy!"

"You got it," Soda agreed, getting up and giving Darry a small wave as he shut the door behind him.

Darry remained sitting on his bed for a good another ten minutes, just sitting there in silence and thinking everything over. When he'd had enough of dwelling on the current situation, he made himself comfortable and finally fell asleep.

Many hours later, after everyone had slept in well into the afternoon, Darry was woken by a persistent knocking on his door. He rolled over unhappily and groaned in annoyance, "What?" as he made his way towards the door. He came face-to-face with a concerned-looking Soda.

"Soda? What's up? Did something happen?" he asked, more awake now.

Darry was hoping more than anything that something else did _not_ happen.

"No, it's just that Curly said he really had to talk to you and he wouldn't tell me anything about what he wanted," Soda said with a lost expression. He looked dead tired, but Darry was positive that everyone would look like that today. He sighed and reluctantly nodded.

"Just send him in here."

As Soda yelled for Curly, Darry glanced over at the clock. Two o'clock.

"Shit, wait! I was supposed to go into work today!" Darry suddenly exclaimed. "I'm already two hours late! My boss will have my neck if he hasn't already halved my paycheck! Soda, I have got to go _right now_! Tell Curly to talk to you or Pony," he said in a panic, rushing around to get ready just as Curly appeared in the doorway. The second he was ready to go he was out the door and headed to work in record time.

Curly, who had been silently watching him leave the whole time, looked up at Soda with an expression of betrayal.

"You said he was going to talk to me and he just rushed out!" he said accusingly.

Soda shrugged self-consciously. "He said he was already two hours late to work and...he needs to keep that job. Just talk to me or Pony?" he offered awkwardly.

"You wouldn't get it!" Curly said in frustration. He may have been giving Soda a little less credit than he deserved, but he was worried that Soda would just tell everyone else whatever Curly said and he didn't want that. Pony would probably go to Soda and tell him too; he'd specifically wanted to talk to Darry because he honestly believed that whatever he told Darry wouldn't be spread to his fellow gang members within minutes.

Soda stared at him silently, taken aback. He personally thought that he was great at understanding things and couldn't fathom any reasons why Curly would need to specifically talk to Darry.

"You know what, just forget it. I'm going out!" Curly snapped, whirling around and shoving the door open, stomping out into the street. Soda quickly stepped out onto the front porch.

"Curly! Get back here!" Soda shouted. If Curly ran off one more time he thought he'd have a heart attack or something. The kid could not just stay put.

Curly didn't respond and vanished around a bend. Soda was tempted to chase him, but he couldn't leave the place without telling Pony or someone else. He didn't need them thinking that Darry, Curly, and him had all been kidnapped or something equally as crazy, and he was the only one besides Curly who knew where Darry went.

"Pony!" he hollered. "Steve! Johnny! Two-Bit! Come here!"

The urgency of his voice must have made the others nervous because they were all out in a matter of seconds. Steve yawned and blearily asked, "What's up?"

"Curly just ran away again, and Darry went to work cause he was already late."

"Curly ran away? Again? Damn, no one has any fuckin' control over that kid," Steve growled in frustration. Soda quickly nodded and then said, "Maybe true, but right now do any of you know where he would have gone to? I don't know where he hangs out and I'm worried he'll do something irrational."

It was then that Pony decided to speak up. "He'd either go to his own house, the house of one of his gang member's, or Buck's, right? Isn't he always at one of those places?" Pony hesitantly asserted.

Soda mulled this over for a brief moment before conceding.

"Probably. He wouldn't go back to Buck's, most likely-" Soda added, seeing everyone's confused looks they gave him, "-I'll tell you later, but I don't think his own house is very likely, which I'll also tell you why later, and so that leaves one of his gang members' places? You know any, Pone?"

Pony immediately shook his head, much to Soda's disappointment.

"I don't ever go on the Shepards' turf unless Curly or Tim is with me."

"Okay, alright, um...guess we're gonna do that today, then?" Soda replied nervously. He'd heard stories of uninvited visitors crossing into Shepard territory and the things that had happened to them and wasn't really looking forward to it.

As soon as he got a wary nod of agreement from each of his friends, they all set out in the direction that Curly had gone to.

"We'll be spending our whole lives chasing Curly all over town," Steve remarked unhappily. He was the least okay with this little trek into foreign territory because he'd been the only one who had a near run-in with some of the hoods on this side of town once before. He still wasn't sure how he managed to escape unharmed, but he wasn't itching to risk his life again; however, he also definitely didn't want to have Soda go wandering into this place with just Pony, Johnny, and Two-Bit.

"You know, guys, I've actually been here before," Steve casually said. "And I wouldn't go down that road because that's where all the hoods who are just barely members of Tim's gang stay, and they don't really care about his rules if I'm being honest."

This earned him a few weird looks. "How would you know?" Pony piped up. He thought he was the only one who knew even the slightest bit about this place.

Steve just shrugged.

"I have my ways," he vaguely answered, picking up his pace so that he was walking with Soda instead of behind him with Pony and Johnny. He wasn't in the mood to launch into a big discussion with Pony at the moment.

The five turned down the street that Steve suggested and Steve suddenly halted, causing Johnny to run straight into him. Both of them stumbled and Steve harshly whispered, "Johnny!" Johnny whispered back, "Sorry," even though he wasn't sure why they were even whispering. As soon as Steve noticed Soda about to ask what was going on, he put his hand over Soda's mouth and pulled him down, motioning for the others to get down too. The tangly bushes growing along the sidewalk were somewhat of a cover.

"Look!" Steve quickly whispered, pointing beyond the bushes.

There, standing face-to-face, was Curly and some other boy who didn't look all that friendly. In fact, Steve was pretty sure he'd rather have a run-in with a grizzly bear than this guy, who was no doubt one of the hoods who hung out on Tim's turf all the time.

A split second later, the relative silence was broken with yelling and cursing of all sorts. The other guy had thrown the first punch and now he and Curly were really having it out right in the deserted lot.

For a moment, all the boys watching the fight go down were too shocked to do anything, but finally, Two-Bit was the first to leap into action. He stood up and ran towards the two, shouting, "Hey! Both of you chill out!"

Curly yanked himself free from Trev's grasp and shoved Two-Bit back. "Fuck off! Just stop sticking your nose into my business all the time!" Curly growled. He wasn't all that surprised that he'd been followed. He knew the second he'd taken off that Soda would come after him one way or another, either with or without his gang.

Two-Bit wasn't having Curly's attitude. "You can fuck off! I just saved your ass! Now come back with us!" he demanded, motioning to the rest of them. The recent events had taken their toll on Two-Bit as well, and he wasn't in a mood to play around with Curly.

"No. Again, fuck. Off."

Soda went to stand beside Two-Bit before things got out of hand.

"Hey, hey! I think we should both calm down a little. Curly, can you please just come to my place?" Soda asked gently.

Trev's previous taunts of someone always having to save him echoed throughout Curly's head.

"No! I'm not a kid, I can handle things! It's not like I'm an invalid or something," Curly hissed venomously. He could see Trev smirking at him from behind Soda and quick as a flash, he'd darted around the middle Curtis brother and leaped on Trev. He'd show the bastard that he wasn't no kid.

He tuned out everyone's shouts and when he felt someone trying to pull him off Trev again, he swung out without thinking and heard a crack. Turning around quickly, he was met with the stunned green eyes of Ponyboy Curtis. Everyone froze for a moment before Pony slowly raised his hand up to his nose and drew it away, studying the blood that was smeared on his palm.

"Pony, I-I'm sorry!" Curly stammered. He hadn't meant to break his friend's nose and was suddenly mad at his own stupidity.

Pony numbly nodded and tentatively touched his nose again. His face screwed up in pain - he'd never had anything broken before and it hurt like hell - and Curly was so distracted that Trev's punch to his face took him by surprise and he was knocked backwards, his head hitting the ground with a harsh thud. Trev took advantage of his fall and was on him in an instant. Curly struggled, but the blood running into his eyes was making it impossible to see anything and his head was pounding. Eventually, the weight on top of him vanished, and he heard Two-Bit's voice shout, "Get outta here!"

Curly dizzily sat up, wiped his eyes, and promptly noticed Trev's retreating form. Just when he thought Trev wouldn't turn around, he did, and shouted to Curly, "Watch your back, kid! And stay away from Tim's gang because you're not Tim and I just beat you fair and square. Don't forget our deal," he yelled, turning back around and hastily retreating.

Curly didn't have the energy to tell him that yes, he wasn't Tim, but no, that wasn't a fair fight. In a fair fight, people weren't trying to pull the two fighters apart every chance they got because that completely distracted both of the people fighting. He'd gotten distracted, and now he just lost control of everything Tim had worked for his entire life because he couldn't stay focused on a damn fight. He was hurting too bad and wasn't strong enough to challenge Trev again. Besides, he knew that the sick feeling he'd gotten earlier was probably contributing to his now worse state. He sure did hate himself a lot right now, though.

For that reason, when Soda leaned down and asked if he needed any help getting up, he entirely ignored the offer and stood up on his own.

The blood running down his face was warm and unsettling, and he considered just going home with the Curtis's gang and not making his situation worse, but he couldn't face Pony again tonight. Plus, he knew it wasn't fair, but he blamed them for interrupting his fight and now how would he get the gang back? This was what he and Trev had agreed on to decide who got to control the gang, and Trev was probably spreading the word right this very instant. No one would believe Curly if he tried to argue against Trev now, given how Trev was clearly the better-off one of them both after this fight.

He immediately turned on his heel and started heading towards his house, having to wipe his face every few moments to keep the blood from his head from blurring his vision again. He was thankful that no one tried to stop him because he didn't want to hit someone else.

The one thing that he was grateful for was the fact that his father wasn't home like he usually was. He could finally get some decent rest for once in his life. He didn't even want to bother with cleaning all his wounds at the moment, and he trudged off to his room. He halted as soon as he passed Tim's door and instantly decided to go in there instead. Usually, Tim's room was off limits, but there was no one around to reinforce that currently, and Curly didn't feel the least bit guilty about walking into Tim's room. Shutting the door behind him, Curly was glad to climb into Tim's unmade bed and make himself comfortable under the covers. The familiar scent of cigarette smoke and that cheap cologne that Curly never could stand the smell of were suddenly the two sweetest scents Curly had ever smelled in his entire life, and it was only a matter of seconds before he'd fallen asleep.


End file.
